LeBron James’ track record of fighting for social justice and the Black community off the court is as strong as his on-court resume. He’s long used his platform to speak out against police brutality, racial injustice, and systemic racism that creates such inequity in America.

Unsurprisingly, he’s been very vocal this past week following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, which sparked nationwide protests that continue as people speak out against police brutality and the disproportionate targeting of the black people by police forces across the country. James has explained to Drew Brees why his anti-kneeling stance is one borne of privilege, as Brees citing his grandfather fighting in World War II ignores black veterans that returned to face racism and weren’t afforded the opportunities of their white counterparts.

When Fox News’ Laura Ingraham defended Brees’ right to have his own opinion, he took her to task for coining the term “shut up and dribble” in response to LeBron’s outspokenness on political and social issues in the past. Not long after that, LeBron posted a video made by his company, Uninterrupted, that explained in plain text why no athlete can “just stick to sports.”

It is a simple, yet powerful message, explaining why he and other athletes use their platform to speak up. It’s because white people have the privilege of compartmentalizing the issue and pushing it to the side, looking to sports for distractions from real world problems that may otherwise inconvenience them, even if not directly affecting the. Those sports are filled with black men and women who can’t ever push the issues of systemic racism aside, because it impacts their own lives, their families, friends, and communities every day.

While the NBA looks to a return to play plan, you can be sure that players will not simply return to the court forgetting what is happening right now in America. They will use that platform, where millions will want to tune in to watch sports return, to speak out and keep the message alive, as they should.

Current NBA players, ranging from veterans like LeBron James to youthful stars like Trae Young, are making their voices heard as protests in response to the killing of George Floyd continue across the country. With that as the backdrop, one of the more prominent voices on social and racial justice in the sports world, NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, visited with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols on The Jump during Thursday’s show and, in unsurprising fashion, provided unique insight on the current climate.

When prompted on whether 2020 could be a turning point in the United States of America, Abdul-Jabbar indicated that he believes that is already the case.

“It already has been a turning point, given what has happened with the coronavirus and all of this racial violence that we’ve become aware of,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “We have an opportunity now that it’s got everybody’s attention. We can do something now. We’ve got everybody concerned and aware that certain things aren’t right. We can do something now. We can find a way to hold bad cops accountable. We can find a way to make sure that everybody gets heard, everybody gets the opportunity to vote and have their voice heard politically. This is a good thing for our country. It’s not a bad thing, and I hope people get to understand that and support it.”

During the interview, Nichols referenced the faction that publicly cites peaceful protest as preferable, while players say that those people don’t condone that activity either, with Colin Kaepernick as an example.

“They don’t want the subject brought up at all,” Abdul-Jabbar indicated in response. “As far as they’re concerned, everything is fine. We can’t continue with that dynamic. Too many people have lost their lives. And it’s a downward force on everything that we’re trying to do in our country.”

Viewing athletes, especially those who are still active in their sports, as potential role models is not a new phenomenon. With that said, it has been encouraging to see many prominent stars using their voice in a productive way during this time, with Abdul-Jabbar also referencing the power that can have in motivating the next generation.

“I think these athletes, what they have to say is important,” he said. “Because they are the ones that the kids in their neighborhoods, the kids from their hometowns, they look up to them and they get inspiration from them and they find out about things through them. These people are icons in their communities and they make a difference. When kids see that their heroes are concerned about civil rights and human rights and just what’s going on in our country, they get it. It’s important.”

Though 2020 is not even half over at this juncture, the notion of the year as a “turning point” could be a pivotal one, especially if people across the country and the world do their part to promote reform.

“The way we make sure it continues is to speak about it,” said Abdul-Jabbar. “People need to make friends with people who don’t look like them. That will go a long way to eliminating all of this. And that’s because we’re all Americans. We’re all raised here and raised on certain values that are the best of any nation in the world. We’ve gotta live up to that.”

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The NBA’s Board of Governors approved a return to play plan that will send 22 teams to Orlando for a restart to the season, playing eight games each to seed the playoffs, which will be played in full with seven-game series throughout. The run-time for the season and playoffs will be July 31 to October 12 under the league’s plan, but most notably they offered a rough outline of the key dates for the offseason and next season.

The NBA Draft would commence on October 15, followed by free agency on October 18, but the real eye-opener was the idea to start training camp on November 10 and the regular season on December 1, which would leave teams that played in the Finals with under a month of rest before camp began. Given that most expected a start date around Christmas — or possibly in January — it was fairly stunning to see those dates floated out there.

Fans and media weren’t the only ones surprised by those dates, as NBPA president Michele Roberts was also taken aback and, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, it’s expected that the 2020-21 season start dates may be the focus of the most negotiation in the league’s plan.

Woj noted that all dates set in the league’s proposal were considered tentative, and it is important to remember that the union has to approve any return to play plan, which meant any victory laps taken today were premature. A call is expected to happen tomorrow involving the players’ association to discuss the proposal, and the very short offseason is likely to be heavily discussed. Whether the workaround is a shortened season next year — 70 games from Dec. 1 could put them with a late April finish to the regular season — extending next season deeper into the year and/or pushing the start date back to create a longer offseason this year, something seems likely to change before a plan is officially ratified.

When HBO Max launched last week, it was perhaps assumed the biggest draws would be Friends, its many DC movies, Rick and Morty or the many great HBO shows like The Sopranos and Game of Thrones. But one week in, there’s been a surprise winner: Looney Tunes and other kids shows are the most popular things on there, according to Bloomberg News.

This comes from a report by Parrot Analytics, which revealed that Looney Tunes Cartoons, the new incarnation of the classic IP, has proven the streamer’s top draw thus far. Second place went to The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo, hosted by everyone’s favorite high-pitched-voiced Sesame Street staple.

Does this mean kids are doing the bulk of the watching? Not necessarily. Looney Tunes has always skewed broadly, appealing to children as well as adults (and not just to adults who watched them as kids). But it does suggest HBO Max — which was criticized by some for, if anything, having too much stuff from too many places, lacking a clear brand — may give Disney+ a run for its money as far as family friendly streamers go. Or perhaps, by having stuff for everyone, they’ll simply attract more subscribers.

Looney Tunes Cartoons is the umpteenth update of the brand, which has existed since in some form or another since 1930. About 200 of the classic era shorts, which played in front of movies up until the mid-1960s, are also available on the service, including such classics as Duck Amuck, The Rabbit of Seville, and One Froggy Evening. This newest iteration is divided into 10 episodes, each running about 12 minutes and featuring two shorts and a couple interstitials. They are also, perhaps surprisingly, quite good.

(Via Bloomberg News)

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Show your solidarity and eat well by supporting these black-owned eateries.

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“The images depicted here are very disturbing and are not in line with the high standards we hold our officers accountable for,” Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna said.

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It’s time to literally put your money where your mouth is.

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The best new hip-hop albums coming out this week include albums from rising stars, like Iann Dior and Sleepy Hallow, and established vets, like Flatbush Zombies and Run The Jewels. It’s been a difficult week and a few albums, like Smokepurpp’s long-awaited Florida Jit, were pushed back. Many artists feel as though releasing now would be a bad look. However, Run The Jewels bucked that trend by releasing their RTJ4 two days early as an antidote to the exhaustion many feel after the past 10 days of protests — and as the perfect soundtrack to them.

Here are all the best new hip-hop albums coming out this week.

Flatbush Zombies — Now, More Than Ever

The Brooklyn trio has had a relatively quiet couple of years since they released their 2018 full-length, Vacation In Hell, participating mainly on the Beast Coast posse collection, Escape From New York. They got back to basics with “Iamlegend,” the first single from their upcoming EP. They’ve since been rolling out the project’s tracks one at a time on social media, preparing to keep the Zombies brand alive.

Iann Dior — I’m Gone 2

The 21-year-old SoundCloud product has been busy over the last few years building his buzz alongside 10K Projects and star-making producers Nick Mira and Taz Taylor. He released his debut project Industry Plant in November last year, with plans to follow up with I’m Gone just a half-year later. Album single “Sick And Tired” featured Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker and reached Billboard‘s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.

Run The Jewels — RTJ4

Ahead of the release of their fourth project, Run The Jewels producer El-P said that the duo was inspired by the legacy of classic four-album runs from groups like EPMD. While a series of unfortunate events, including the coronavirus quarantine and a sample clearance issue, threatened to derail the rollout, the group was not only able to finish their timely project but also release it early as a response to anti-police brutality protests sweeping the nation. In addition, they’ve made it free to download and provided resources to donate to organizations fighting police violence.

Sleepy Hallow — Sleepy For President

The Brooklyn drill movement continues its inexorable rise to mainstream attention with the latest release from Sheff G’s “right-hand man.” He popped up within the last year and has already begun to make a name for himself, featuring on Pitchfork‘s “The Ones” column and receiving attention from Genius, XXL, and more. Sleepy For President is his chance to distinguish himself from his BK peers as the movement’s constituents go from underground rabble-rousers to rising stars.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.